Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A funds are provided to Houston Independent School District (HISD) through the 2002 reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965" (ESEA), also known as the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB). ESEA was reauthorized in 2015 as the "Every Student Succeeds…

This dissertation asks how the communication dimensions of technological literacy are understood in three informal education programs in Texas that aim to bridge the digital divide for female and low-income minority youth. Technological literacy is a prerequisite for economic, political, and cultural equality, yet different rationales for…

This article describes the use of poetry as a pedagogical tool intended to intensify the reflective process of a service-learning project. In addition to keeping electronic journal entries, and summarizing and reflecting on service activities, preservice teachers wrote (or selected) poems to reconstruct their experiences and recreate some of the…

This article focuses on the everyday ways that children's perspectives on and experiences within urban schools are chronicled and interpreted. Drawing on illustrations from two students' experiences across a school year in one classroom, the author argues that students in urban schools are everyday documentarians, sharing their relationships to…

For more than 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity,…

Considering the broader context of school reform that is seeking education strategies that might deliver substantial impact, this article examines four questions related to the policy and practice of expanding learning time: (a) Why do educators find the standard American school calendar insufficient to meet students' educational needs, especially…

America's low-income families struggle to protect their children from multiple threats to their health and growth. Many research and advocacy groups explore the health and educational effects of food insecurity, but less is known about these effects on very young children. Children's HealthWatch, a group of pediatric clinicians and public health…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) established guidelines pertaining to student achievement and included requirements regarding parental involvement and communication between the school and home. Various issues stand in the way of realizing the level of parental engagement desired by educators and ordered by NCLB. Parental participation…

This paper estimates the impact of attending a preferred high school on mediating factors of student success, including engagement, behavior, and attendance. For example, the authors ask whether students are more engaged with their school or have higher attendance when successfully matched to their first choice versus their second (or lower)…

Many children begin school unprepared to meet its academic requirements. If this school readiness gap is not addressed, it can be a precursor to continuing low achievement. One promising approach to this problem is to provide high-quality early learning opportunities to low-income children. Many publicly funded early care and education programs in…

The "I Have a Dream" (IHAD) program is a philanthropic, community-based intervention committed to supporting pupils in impoverished and under-resourced school systems. The IHAD program presents disadvantaged youth with an equal opportunity to pursue higher education by providing scholastic and social-emotional supports to promote college…

When a teacher enters a classroom, a story begins. The plot is informed by its characters and setting-the students, faculty, and the surrounding community. If a teacher comes from outside this community--whether in terms of race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, ability status, or culture--the plot thickens. Existing…

The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of academic growth of Academically Unacceptable schools in Louisiana which have been assigned a Distinguished Educator. Distinguished Educators are external change agents who are placed in Academically Unacceptable schools in Louisiana. The data were generated from the Louisiana Department of…

The supplemental educational services program is a core provision of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The program offers free tutoring in reading/language arts and math from state-approved providers outside of regular school hours. This report explores differences across states and school urban and rural locales in providing…

In this action research study I was the classroom teacher of high school-aged African American students participating in the six-week summer portion of the Reach Up program. The purpose of Reach Up is to help students improve study skills, build confidence, motivation, self-discipline, maturity and better grades so that they can go to the college…